Ford gets new boss

The Melbourne headquarters issued an announcement today of its fifth new chief executive since 2004. Having been in the job for a little over two years, Geelong-born Marin Burela -- the first Australian to hold the job since 2005 -- announced he would be replaced by American executive Robert Graziano as of Monday.

Graziano, an employee of Ford since 1982, was chairman and CEO of Ford China. Burela becomes president of Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Co Ltd. He says this is a "very significant role" and central to Ford's grow in what is rapidly becoming the world's biggest auto market.

"It certainly wasn't my plan to be here two years only, nor was that the company's plan," Burela says. "Only three weeks ago we relocated our daughter from the UK back to Australia so she could complete her education. The plan was always to stay here."

Burela denies that his sudden move to a flourishing market -- where some 35 million vehicles will sold in the next decade -- indicated that Australia was considered a low priority by Ford. "I could not have picked a better successor," he says. "One thing that distinguishes us from the auto pack is that our strength is very strong. We are interchangeable.

"Bob is very excited to be coming to Australia." Graziano is charged with overseeing the expansion of Ford's line-up here and in New Zealand, which starts with the launch of the Ranger pickup truck.

Graziano worked in the Americas and Asia before heading Ford China's expansion plans, overseeing investments of $1.3 billion in the past 12 months. But he warms Ford's local chair at a time when the Blue Oval is struggling to retain its traditional place in the Australian market.

Last month, its mainstay Falcon slumped to sixth place in top sales, despite mass discounting to fleets -- and the brand as a whole was outsold by Toyota, Holden and Mazda. Nevertheless Burela says he is proud to have "delivered profitable growth" to a company that had been $300 million in the red when he took the reins. He says Ford will launch a massive new model offensive in 2011-12. "We're in a good place. I have no regrets."

The wave of models he cites is one of the biggest product pushes in Ford's Australian history is shifting into top gear. The pocket rocket Focus RS is almost a sell-out, the first deliveries of the supercharged Falcons from Ford Performance Vehicles have begun, and there are a string of new arrivals planned to take the brand through to the end of 2011.

The most important is the four-cylinder Falcon — to be called the Falcon EcoBoost — in the second half of next year. Ford Australia also intends to have a Falcon with liquid petroleum injection and the Territory will finally get a V6 turbodiesel engine.

The latest Thai-built WT Fiesta is the next model on the launching page, followed by an update and upgrade of the Mondeo. Both cars are in showrooms from November, although the flagship Mondeo Titanium does not arrive until December. November also brings a limited-edition Territory with more equipment and a slight visual tweak, as part of the run-out for the big change — including the turbodiesel — in the first half of next year.

The big action happens in the second half of 2011 with the Falcon — likely to get a new name beyond FG — as the headliner, but an all-new Focus and the Ranger pickup on the plan. Ford is not giving any solid detail yet on the Focus, which will be built like the Fiesta in Thailand, but says the Ranger line-up will be much more extensive than the single display vehicle at the Australian International Motor Show.